


Poetry and Chords

by DominikVargas (EverettV), SnowyCarnations (CrimsonCarnations)



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fighting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 09:04:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8838619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverettV/pseuds/DominikVargas, https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimsonCarnations/pseuds/SnowyCarnations
Summary: Arthur and Antonio are stuck being roomates, but is it really that bad?





	1. Chapter 1

Antonio looked down at the schedule in his hands. Up in the corner written in sloppy handwriting was the dorm room he was staying in. He looked up again from the paper and looked at the doors he was near. He’d passed the room. He gave a sigh and turned on his heel. Somehow, he managed to find the dorm room and tried the key. Thankfully the door opened up. He stepped inside and looked around the room. His roommate had clearly already been in the room as the further bed had a large suitcase opened and clothes folded along the bed and dresser near it. 

 

The Spaniard shrugged and put his things down, pulling his backpack and guitar off of his back and setting them next to the bed. He then made a mental note of where the room was then went to get the rest of his things. When he returned he was a bit surprised to see a small green haired man standing in front of the bed. He closed the door behind him and set his other things down. “Hola! My name is Antonio I assume you are my roomate?” He held out a hand for the Brit. 

 

Arthur found the room with the help of a volunteer from the welcoming committee, then put his suitcase on it. He was pulling out clothes when he realized he had left his guitars in his mom’s car and rushed back. When he returned he found his roommate had come in. He sets his acoustic in the closet then hangs up clothes in front of it. He goes back to the bed. 

 

When Antonio speaks his jumps slightly but turns with a smirk. A set of snake bites decorate his lower lip, while earrings shine along both of his ears. An eyebrow and septum piercing finish off the silver in his face. He takes his hand tightly and shakes it. 

 

“Arthur Kirkland. Obviously.” He snickers before turning to finish putting his stuff away. He flops on his bed and opens his schedule, sighing at some of the classes. It's not that he doesn't want to do them, it's that he doesn't really think they'll be very good in the end. He just has to do them for him major. 

 

Antonio smiled a bit and tilted his head. He sat down on his bed and started to sort through his stuff. “so, Arthur Kirkland Obviously, how long have you gone to school here?” he asked, tilting his head a bit as he folded his laundry. 

 

Arthur gives a slight glare before turning back to his schedule. He doesn't respond to him, irritated with him already. The Brit grabs his backpack and pulls out a book to read. Pet Sematary by Stephen King, the cover reads. Arthur gets lost in the book easily. 

 

Antonio paused and bit his lip. “ah alright. Not much of a joker, sorry” he chuckled and shrugged. He set up his guitar stand and set his guitar on it, setting his keyboard out as well and laying down on the bed on his stomach with a notebook. He started to draw a few notes on it. 

 

Arthur looks over at him again when he sees him setting his guitar and keyboard up. The punk huffs softly, not wanting to admit that he might like Antonio if he actually decided to get to know him. He watches the Spaniard for a few moments. “You a music major?” He asks after a few moments. 

 

Antonio looked up and nodded. “yeah I play and sing so I figured it would be the best major for me” he smiled a bit. “i can set up somewhere else if you don't want me to play here though?”

 

Arthur stares at him for a moment. “I don't mind, as long as you play well.” He responds. “I like playing music too, I play electric guitar.” He smirks a bit and picks up the case. “So if you ever need someone to practice with…” He shrugs slightly. 

 

Antonio chuckled and smiled. “I would hope I play well. It would be cool to have someone to play with.” He smiled. “Is that your major too? Wouldn’t that be funny? They put two music majors together.” He laughed a bit. 

 

Arthur quirks an eyebrow and shrugs. “Just let me know if you want to play with me, I don't mind.” He says with a smirk. “I just either need sheet music or to already know the song.” The Brit watches Antonio. 

 

Antonio chuckled and nodded. “i can provide that” he smiled and finished setting up, sitting down on his bed. “I’m not sure how many of the songs you’ll know but I have sheet music for everything”

 

Arthur nods and pulls out his guitar. “What do you want to play?” He asks and tweaks the tuning on his guitar. He strums it softly to make sure it's tuned properly and then nods at him. “I'd like to play with you.” He says gently. 

 

Antonio smiled brightly. “ah I have to practice this song for class” he held out a copy of the sheet music for him and smiled a bit. 

 

Arthur takes the sheet music then looks it over. He sets it on the music stand. “You playing guitar?” He asks and watches him. He looks back to the music and plays with his lip piercings. 

 

Antonio shrugged. “if you want to you can. I can play both so you can pick one” he smiled and tilted his head a bit. 

 

Arthur smirks. “Whatever. I play guitar then.” He says and waits for him to start, not wanting to get ahead of Antonio or anything since he's helping him practice. 

 

Antonio smiled and nodded. He counted the beat softly so they could sync then started to play, smiling and closing his eyes to just feel it.

 

Arthur starts to play with him, making very sure he doesn't mess up any of the notes, since that would be inconveniencing. He smiles softly as he plays, loving to just let the music take him. 

 

Antonio smiled and played along. He didn't pay too much attention to detail, just enjoy it. He shifted and smiled at Arthur. 

 

Arthur blushes and shifts slightly, looking back to the paper. He takes a deep breath when the song is over and turns to Antonio. “How was that?” He asks. 

 

Arthur tries to think if he had any summer assignments to finish. He's pretty sure he finished all of them, though. 

 

Antonio hummed excitedly. “It was wonderful! Thank you so much” he smiled and looked over his things before putting everything away.

 

Arthur nods and smiles at him slightly. “You ever consider getting tattoos? They're really nice to have.” He says, just assuming Antonio is the good boy type. “I could take you to the place I go if you want to get one. I'm actually going in about an hour to get another one.” 

 

Antonio nodded. “I thought about it” He shrugged. “I don’t know if I could get one and still be accepted my my family. They always told me that tattoos and piercings are ‘unacceptable and will ruin my chances at succeeding.’” He muttered, mimicking an irritating voice. He rolled his eyes. “I just never did it. I might consider it now. Maybe I will decide if I come with you?”

 

Arthur nods and chuckles. He sticks his tongue out at him. “I'm gonna get this pierced soon.” He says and points at the middle of his tongue. “I'm getting another tattoo on my arm.” He points to a spot on his upper bicep. “I'm getting a rose today.” 

 

Antonio nodded and smiled a bit. “Ah that’s so cool. I’d probably only get my ears pierced if I did. If I did get a tattoo, I have always liked the idea of one on my lower right back. Probably a cross or a crown. Something simple” he shrugged. 

 

Arthur nods. “Well you can come with me.” He says. “But you have to pay for your own. I'd like a tongue tattoo, but it seems like a lot of effort and they're not even permanent.” He hums lightly and flops onto his bed. He starts to play on his phone. 

 

Antonio nodded. “Mhmm. Of course.” he chuckled a bit. “I wouldn’t make you pay for me till the second date” he teased, joking around. He chuckled softly and pulled out one of his textbooks. 

 

Arthur glances at him then laughs after a few seconds. He stretches out. “You're funny.” He smirks and sits up, pulling out his list of summer assignments and going over it. 

 

Antonio smiled brightly and nodded. He read over the part he was supposed to read then hummed a bit and pulled out the work he had to do on it. 

 

Arthur finds a summer assignment that he didn't finish, so he pulls that out and continues to work on it until it's done. He checks his watch and gets up. “Come on, pretty boy.” He smirks and puts his boots on. 

 

Antonio looked up at him and blushed deeply. He chuckled a bit and nodded, standing up and putting his shoes on. He grabbed his wallet and keys, just in case he did decide he wanted to get one. 

 

“I'll drive.” Arthur grabs the two helmets he has and hands one to Antonio. He puts his keys and phone and wallet into his pocket then heads out to his motorcycle. 

 

Antonio nodded and thanked him, taking the helmet. He followed the Brit out and put his helmet on when they got out there. He waited for Arthur to get on. 

 

Arthur puts his phone and wallet in the small compartment. “Would you like to put your stuff in here?” He asks and closes it after Antonio makes his choice. He puts the helmet on then gets on, waiting for Antonio to get on. 

 

Antonio nodded and handed Arthur his things. “Thank you” He got on after him and grabbed him gently. 

 

Arthur blushes lightly. “Hold on tight, babe.” He purrs softly then turns on the motorcycle. “Put your feet on the bars.” He tells him then starts to drive. 

 

Antonio nodded and blushed, grabbing him tighter and pulling his feet up. He huffed a bit and nuzzled into his back. 

 

Arthur parks at the tattoo parlour and puts his feet down. He waits for Antonio to get off and puts down the kickstand before getting off as well. 

 

“Alright, pretty boy.” He smirks and grabs their phones and wallets, handing Antonio’s to him. 

 

Antonio blushed and got off. He thanked him and took off his helmet, blushing still. 

 

Arthur smirks and heads inside, telling the guy that he's there for his appointment. He hands over the cash for the tattoo then steps aside to wait to be called back. He hums along to a song that's playing on the radio, smirking at Antonio. 

 

Antonio followed him inside and looked at the Brit. He pulled out his phone and started to look at the tattoos he had wanted, in case he does decide to get one. 

 

Arthur gets called back. He sits down and explains what he wants and where. He leans back and relaxes, putting in headphones because he doesn't like the sound that the tattoo gun makes. 

 

Antonio watched and hummed. As long as his father did not find out it would be fine. He decided he would get one on his lower back. That way his father would never see it anyway. He approached the woman at the desk. 

 

She looks up at him and gives him a smile. “Welcome! What can I get you?” She asks, pushing a book towards him. “This has our work. One of our artists is almost done, and is free to work after he cleans the station.” She explains and hums. “I have an appointment soon, otherwise I'd offer to do it myself.” 

 

Antonio nodded. “that's fine. I actually kind of have a plan already. I would like a crown on my lower back, to the right a bit.” he took out his phone to pull up the picture. “like this? Can he do that?” he asked gently. 

 

“Oh definitely!” She responds and smiles brightly. “I'll pen you in.” She writes the request quickly then finds the picture on the internet before printing it. “Is this a good size?” She asks and shows it to Antonio. The artist’s other client walks out and the artist comes next. 

 

“Hello. I'll help you in a minute!” He's a blond with bright blue eyes. He smiles brightly at Antonio then turns and goes back to clean his station. 

 

Antonio nodded and waited back. “That looks good, thank you” He smiled and waited for the artist to call him in. He was nervous and excited all at once. He knew his father would kill him for this. But he didn’t care. 

 

“So it's going to be $80 for this. He doesn't charge by the hour.” She smiles and stands up, taking the design back to Alfred. Alfred smiles brightly and nods, finishing cleaning up his station. He heads out and holds out a hand to shake Antonio’s. 

 

“Hi! So today I'm making you a crown?” He asks and hums softly. “That's cool! Where do you want it?” 

 

Antonio smiled and nodded. “That sounds good, thank you” he looked at Alfred and shook his hand gently. “Hello! Si I would like it here, on my lower back on the right side” He said, pointing to where he wanted it. 

 

“Coolio!” He smiles brightly and sits in his chair. “What colours do you want it?” He asks before getting up and washing his hands. He puts on sterile gloves before opening a package with needles before cleaning those as well. He puts one into the gun and looks up at Antonio. “Take off your shirt and lay down here.” He gestures. He smiles brightly. 

 

Antonio watched him and took off his shirt. “just black” he smiled. “I didn't want it too complicated” he answered as he laid down where he was told to. “since it’s my first one”

 

Alfred preps the ink then puts the crown where Antonio wanted it. He transfers it from the paper and onto his skin. “Does this look good?” He asks and moves back so that Antonio can get up and look at it in the mirror. 

 

Antonio smiled and looked in the mirror. “Yeah that looks great!” he laid back down on the table and shifted so he was comfortable, knowing it may take a while. 

 

“Okay. Please don't move, it's gonna sting.” He hums. “Do you have headphones? Most people prefer to listen to music, because the tattoo gun makes a lot of noise.” He smiles softly. 

 

Antonio nodded. “I don’t. I think I will be okay. Noise don’t really bother me” he smiled and stayed still, waiting for the American. 

 

Alfred nods and gets to work. He is very focused as he works, making sure to follow the lines exactly. When he's done he smiles. “Take a look. Afterwards I’m gonna put some plastic wrap on it.” He tells Antonio and hums softly. He smiles. “Just pay at the front.” 

 

Antonio relaxed his body and closed his eyes. He opened them again, having nearly fallen asleep. He stood up again to look in the mirror and smiled brightly. “i love it, thank you so much” he waited for Alfred to wrap it then pulled out his wallet and went up to the counter, handing the woman a full 100, leaving the twenty as a tip. He looked around the room, wondering if Arthur had finished.

 

Arthur smirks at him when he sees him. “You changed your mind, pretty boy?” He asks and walks over to him. He shows Antonio his tattoo. “Now let's see yours.” The Brit says and watches Antonio. 

 

Antonio nodded and smiled a bit. “Si I decided I might as well since I came” He lifted his shirt again and turned so that Arthur could see what he had gotten done.

 

Arthur nods. “Looks great.” He responds honestly with a small smirk. “You wanna go somewhere else? Or just back to the dorm?” He asks, leaning on the wall. He tilts his head back. “I have the lotion and cream to put on the tattoos.” 

 

Antonio blushed and smiled. “thanks! Actually since I’m out already I wanted to go get some new earrings. My old ones are pretty bland. If you don't mind of course.”

 

Arthur nods at him. “Where do you usually go?” He heads outside and puts his phone and wallet back in the compartment, having already paid for his tattoo. He really likes his. 

 

Antonio shrugged. “There’s a place in the mall that has some nice ones. But if you have a preference we can go there. I trust you” he smiled

 

Arthur shrugs. “We’ll go to the mall. That's fine. I'll pick up some too.” He smirks and puts on his helmet, waiting for Antonio to do the same. 

 

Antonio nodded and smiled. He put his helmet on and waited for Arthur to get on so he could get on and hold onto him. 

 

Arthur gets on the bike, waiting for Antonio. He starts it, and as soon as Antonio is on with his arms around him, he puts up the kickstand and drives out of the parking lot. He smirks softly and swerves around a few cars. 

 

Antonio held onto him tightly whenever he swerved like that. He didn't mind much it just worried him a bit.

 

Arthur smirks when he feels that and does it a few more times on the way there. He parks and waits for Antonio to get up, then gets up himself. He pulls out his phone and wallet. 

 

Antonio got off and took off his helmet. He grabbed his phone and wallet as well before smiling at Arthur.

 

Arthur smiles softly at him. He takes his helmet off and puts it down, hair sticking up in every direction. He heads inside and goes to the jewelry shop he knows about, looking at the stuff. 

 

Antonio chuckled a bit at the site of Arthur’s hair and followed him in. He looked through some of the earrings and picked out a black pair with small green crosses in the middle. They were also fake gauges, which he loved but would never actually do to himself. The holes didn't look good when you took them out, in his opinion. 

 

Arthur looks around, picking out some rings for his lips and ears, as well as some studs to wear when working. He hums softly and watches Antonio. “So why'd you move to England?” He asks and turns to him. 

 

Antonio turned to Arthur and shrugged. “well...my dad decided he didn't want me to get the ‘influences’ I had because Spain isn’t like it ‘used to be’” he rolled his eyes. “he doesn't want me growing up like new spaniards do or something like that.” 

 

Arthur snorts loudly. “Well you're an adult. Plus, look at you now.” He smirks and turns to Antonio. He plays with his lip piercings and hums softly before going to the checkout counter and buying the piercings he chose. 

 

Antonio shrugged. He smiled. “well I am just hoping he won't notice.” he laughed a bit. “anyway” he paid for the piercings he picked out. “My mom had told my dad before she died that she’d always wanted to live in England. But never got to. So my dad decided coming here now would appease her in the afterlife.”

 

Arthur frowns a bit and sighs softly. He runs a hand through his hair. “I'm sorry.” He says softly and looks at Antonio. “I wouldn't know how that feels. Was she a good mother?” 

 

Antonio smiled a bit sadly. He sighed and nodded. “She was wonderful. I wish my younger siblings would have known her better. She was the only thing that kept my father in check. But...There were 16 of us kids at one point. I have never been alone. A lot of them dropped contact with the family though. There are only 7 of us really now. But either way I am happy. It’s okay” He whispered. He looked down a bit. 

 

Arthur watches him for a few seconds before hugging him tightly. “Holy shit, 16? Why did she have to keep your father in check?” He asks and lets go, looking up at him. “Hey, let’s talk about this back at the dorm, and you can tell me everything, okay?” He asks softly. 

 

Antonio nodded. “16” He chuckled a bit, hugging the Brit back. “Yeah yeah…” he smiled sadly and finished up with the cashier before putting his things away. “Did you need to get anything else while we were here?”

 

Arthur shakes his head. He leads Antonio out and puts on his helmet. He drops his phone and wallet in the compartment and waits for Antonio to do the same. He feels awful for Antonio. 

 

Antonio put his things in the compartment as well and put on the helmet. He got on the back after Arthur had and held onto him again. 

 

Arthur blushes lightly and drives down to their dorms. He parks and waits for Antonio to get off, grabbing his stuff from the compartment then carrying his helmet inside. He makes some tea and sets the cup on the side table for Antonio, and makes a mug for himself. 

 

Antonio climbed off and the bike and took of the helmet and grabbed his things. He took his shoes off and sat down, sighing a bit. He thanked Arthur for the tea.

 

Arthur nods and sits down on his bed. He looks at Antonio. “Tell me everything.” He says gently, actually quite worried about his new friend, though he doesn't want to show it. 

 

Antonio nodded and sighed a bit. “Well my father is kind of an asshole if you hadn’t gotten that much. My brothers and I actually all got our ears pierced to piss him off. One sister even went as far as to dye her hair” he laughed a bit. “But she waited till she had moved out. I don’t think he knows yet. He’s actually hit me, my oldest brother, and one of my sisters a few times. That’s one big reason I had to move into a dorm” 

 

Arthur looks at him worriedly. “I'm so sorry. If you have to go back, I'll go with you.” He says gently and nods. “I'll protect you.” He assures Antonio and looks at him. “I hate people who feel like they can hurt their kids.”

 

Antonio sighed a bit. “it’s alright. It’s not like anything can be done” he sighed. “I’m alright now though.” he sighed. “I will have to go eventually.” he sighed. 

 

Arthur nods. “And when you do I'm going with you.” He repeats and lays down, picking up his book and starting to read it again. He sighs softly as he reads, bunkering down into his blanket. 

 

Antonio nodded. “Alright. If you really want to” he sighed a bit and rolled over to work on a few things himself.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Arthur’s alarm goes off early in the morning as he has an 8 o’clock class. He turns it off before getting ready quickly and rushing out with his backpack. He comes back for the assignment he forgot then rushes off once more. 

 

Antonio woke up when Arthur’s alarm went off. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. He blinked in confusion when Arthur ran back in then left again. He chuckled a bit and smiled. He may as well get read now, so he got up and started to get dressed.

 

Arthur goes through all his classes, hoping he doesn't share any with Antonio so the Spaniard doesn't realize that he's an English major, and not a music major. He plans on being a writer. 

 

Antonio went to all of his classes for the day with a slight sigh. He struggled a lot in his ESL class like he had been before so he wasn’t very surprised. He grumbled and went back to the dorm, flopping back on his bed. 

 

Arthur comes in much later and sighs, flopping down as well. He looks over in Antonio’s direction before sitting up quickly to do his homework. He reads Hamlet for class and hums softly. 

 

Antonio looked at Arthur. “how was your day?” he asked, sitting up to look at Arthur, deciding he should probably work on homework anyway.

 

Arthur looks over at him. “It was okay. Classes are a bit tough, but that was to be expected.” He responds and reads his book again. “How was yours?” He asks gently. 

 

Antonio shrugged. “I’m really struggling in ESL but that's really it. The grammar just confuses me” he muttered. 

 

“Oh?” Arthur looks over at him. “I'm sorry. What is that?” He asks with slight confusion in his voice. He puts a bookmark in his book and sets it down, waiting. 

 

Antonio shrugged. “English as a second language. Since I was born in Spain and speak mostly spanish I have to take it. I understand English it’s writing that's hard.”

 

Arthur nods and looks at him. “I'm pretty good at writing. I'll look over your essays and such if you'd like.” He looks at Antonio and smirks softly at him. “I mean, I am an Englishman, and it wouldn't be gentlemanly of me to ignore your needs.” 

 

Antonio nodded and smiled, chuckling a bit. “i would really appreciate your help. If you don't mind that is” he smiled. “a gentleman doesn't always have to do these things” he teased a bit. 

 

Arthur smirks and bites his lip softly. “Of course I do, I would hate to ruin such a good reputation.” He licks his lips as he watches Antonio then turns back to his book, opening it once more to work on his homework. 

 

Antonio nodded and chuckled. He blushed a bit and got back to doing his homework as well, smiling at it now.

 

Arthur smirks to himself, glad he cheered up Antonio. He also had fun flirting with him. He hums lightly and taps his pencil against his bed, writing down quotes he wants to be in his essay and points he wants to make from them. 

 

Antonio finished up his homework. He then pulled out the ESL homework. “can you help me through this?” he asked. 

 

Arthur glances up. He's halfway through writing his essay, but he nods anyway. “Sure.” He stands up and grabs his glasses, sitting beside Antonio on his bed. “What is it?” He asks. 

 

Antonio held out his work. “The grammar bits. Commas are confusing”

 

Arthur sets his head on Antonio’s shoulder and reads it over. He explains it to him gently, clarifying when necessary. He looks over at Antonio. “Do you understand? I can try again.” He whispers, blushing lightly. 

 

Antonio listened to his explanation. He nodded. “I think that makes more sense. Yeah. Thank you” he smiled at Arthur. 

 

Arthur smirks softly back and nods, going back to his bed and continuing to work, not bothering with taking his glasses off because it helps anyway. He looks over at Antonio again. “Hey I know we just met but would you go on a date with me?” 

 

Antonio’s cheeks turned red. He smiled a bit. “sure. I’d like that a lot” he smiled Arthur, thankful his tan skin made the blushing a bit harder to notice.

 

Arthur smiles brightly at him. He nods. “Awesome!” He smirks and gets back to work. “I'll take you out this weekend.” He says gently and hums softly, finishing up his paper and hooking up his printer. 

 

Antonio blushed and smiled. “I can’t wait” he said happily and finished his homework. He put it away and pulled out his guitar to practice that next. 

 

Arthur doesn't mind. He listens as he prints the paper and hole punches it before carefully setting it in a folder. He hums softly and puts in his binder, before pulling out his planner to see if he had any other homework. 

 

Antonio smiled and started to play gently. He sang along to the song he was playing, though did it quietly so that he wouldn’t disturb Arthur too much. 

 

Arthur listens. He closes his planner when he sees the rest of the teachers were merciful people, packing his backpack and laying down, watching Antonio play. He takes off his glasses. 

 

Antonio blushed a bit when he noticed that Arthur was watching him. He smiled and started to sing a bit louder since he didn't seem to be bothering Arthur. 

 

Arthur blushes darkly when he gets caught. He keeps watching, finding it fascinating, as he always does when he watches people play their instruments. 

 

Antonio smiled. “Do you want to play along?” he asked, smiling at Arthur and tilting his head

 

Arthur thinks for a moment then shakes his head. “Nah. You're enjoying yourself.” He responds. “And I'm enjoying watching you.” He says softly and runs a hand through his hair. 

 

Antonio chuckled and smiled. He nodded and continued to play softly, singing along to the song he was playing. 

 

Arthur turns into his back, closing his eyes and listening. He smiles softly but gets up to make himself something to eat. He sets the food in microwave and hits the time. 

 

Antonio smiled and watched Arthur. He finished the song and put his guitar away, laying back on the bed and smiling. 

 

The food in the microwave explodes. Arthur looks at it then huffs, unplugging it to clean it out. He's used to this. A burning smell fills the room. 

 

Antonio looked up. His eyes wet wide and his nose crinkled. He laughed a bit. “You nerd” he got up. “How did you manage that?” he smiled. “Do you want me to make us both dinner?”

 

Arthur shrugs. “It always happens. I can't even touch food while it cooks. Or anything. Please do, if you don't mind.” He says softly and cleans it out. He looks at Antonio. 

 

Antonio smiled and started to make them both dinner, humming gently “is there any food you don't like” 

 

Arthur shakes his head. “I'm not picky.” He says softly and finishes up the cleaning. He plugs the microwave back in. “I'm not supposed to cook, that's what my mom says.” 

 

Antonio nodded and smiled. He continued to cook, humming still as well. “Ah well maybe you just need someone to teach you.” 

 

Arthur snorts. “Good luck with that. People have tried.” Arthur smirks slightly and looks at the ceiling. “Francis had such hope for me, but I blew up his kitchen.” He responds and blushes in embarrassment. 

 

Antonio laughed a bit and pulled out two plates. “Well. If it’s the same Francis I know then you must be hopeless.” he joked. “Anyway. It’s done” he smiled and turned everything off. 

 

Arthur looks at him. “Blond hair, sassy, gay as fuck?” He asks, standing up. He gently takes a plate. “Thanks. Looks great!” He grabs a fork and takes a bite. 

 

Antonio laughed “yep that’s him! He’s a close friend” he smiled and nodded “mm I hope you like it, it’s nothing special though” 

 

Arthur smirks and nods. “He's a close friend of mine as well.” He admits. “How’d you meet him?” He asks, a bit confused. He takes a few bites, then nods when he realizes that it's quite good. 

 

Antonio smiled. “I went to highschool with another friend of his, Gilbert. Outside of school the three of us hung out all the time. We were our own little club” he chuckled and smiled. 

 

“Gilbert. As in, white skin, white hair, and red eyes, also gay as fuck?” Arthur asks, raising his eyebrows. “God it's been fucking forever since I saw them last. Shit, 5 years at least. I bet they wouldn't even recognize me.” 

 

Antonio nodded. “Yep that’s him” he smiled. “You should come with me when I go hang out with them next! I bet they’d love to see you” he smiled brightly. 

 

Arthur shrugs. “I wasn't particularly nice to either of them. When I moved out of France again, neither of them forced themselves to stay in contact with me.” He mumbles and sighs before shrugging a bit. “But if you want me to, I will. I mean, I wouldn't mind seeing them again.” 

 

Antonio shrugged. “High School was stressful. I’d love to have you come! Especially if that date goes well, I might just be able to introduce you as my boyfriend.” 

 

Arthur blushes darkly and starts to eat. He nods a bit. “That would be nice.” He responds and looks at him with a small smirk. “Mm… Having a hot Spanish boyfriend is not bad.” 

 

Antonio blushed as he started to eat and smiled brightly. “Mm I bet a hot English boyfriend is better” he smirked a bit. 

 

Arthur winks at him. “Pros: I can play guitar, I can recite poetry, I can ride a motorcycle, and I'm fucking hot. Cons: I can't cook if my life depended on it.” 

 

Antonio laughed gently. “Well I can cook, so that con isn’t a big deal” He smiled and looked at Arthur. “But I must agree that you are fucking hot”

 

Arthur winks at him once more then stands up, cleaning the dishes that are there before drying them and putting them away. He's glad the Antonio likes his looks. 

 

Antonio smiled and brought his plate to the sink as well, smiling at Arthur. He went and laid down after rinsing his plate off

 

Arthur pulls out his electric guitar and takes his own turn at playing music. He looks down at the guitar then situates his fingers. He plays a few songs that he knows and sings along, smiling a bit.

 

Antonio watched him this time, smiling and watching the way his hands moved along the guitar. Even though he could do it, he found it fascinating to watch someone play. 

 

Arthur notices him staring and smirks. He continues to play for Antonio, but he itches to play his acoustic. He only continues to play his electric because he doesn't want to play his acoustic and ruin his image. 

 

Antonio smiled at him and rolled over so he was on his stomach, kicking his legs up and swaying them to the music. 

 

Arthur watches him, mesmerized. He starts another song, biting his lip softly as he waits to start singing. He decides to just play his acoustic when he was alone in the room. 

 

Antonio smiled. He turned his head a bit and closed his eyes, swaying and just listening to the music.

 

Arthur looks down again and closes his eyes, lost in the music. He barely pays attention to what he's actually playing at this point. 

 

Antonio smiled and laid back all the way. He was a bit tired and he was more than willing to sleep to Arthur’s playing. 

 

Arthur starts to play softer music when he notices Antonio is going to sleep to it. He sets his guitar aside then lays back, reading for a while before going to sleep. 

 

Antonio fell asleep not long after Arthur played softer. He curled up and smiled in his sleep. 

 

Arthur gets up to his alarm and starts his routine over again, though for different classes. He's only got a couple classes that day, so when they are over he sits in the room and plays his acoustic. He sings Hallelujah gently. 

 

Antonio got up and yawned. He got ready to go to class as well and rubbed his eyes as he put his books in his bag. He had a few classes today so he didn't come back quickly 

 

Arthur plays for a while, happy to play his acoustic again. He sets it back in the closet and closes the door before getting started on his homework then taking a nap when he's done with that. 

 

Antonio came inside the room a bit later and groaned, flopping on the bed and huffing. He pulled his backpack up and pulled out a large packet. 

 

Arthur starts to wake up. He looks at Antonio blearily and sits up. “What's going on?” He asks, tilting his head. Arthur yawns and stretches his hands over his head. He stands up, grabbing a snack and starts to eat. “Bad day?” 

 

Antonio sat up and nodded. “Sort of. I just got a huge project for English. I'm not exactly excited because we were supposed to work with someone in the class and everyone already had partners in mind so I have to work alone on this huge project” 

 

Arthur sits on his own bed. “I dunno. I'll help out if you need it.” He responds and sets his snack aside, laying back. “I mean, why not, right? I know English pretty well, considering…” He blushes darkly and huffs, sitting up. “I should probably do my homework.” 

 

Antonio nodded and paused at the Englishman when he did not finish his subject. He nodded and shrugged “okay. Well I’d like your help a lot” he smiled. “Thanks” 

 

Arthur nods and looks at him. He starts to work on his homework but quickly gets bored. “Ugh… Where do you want to go for our date?” He asks and looks over at him again. 

 

Antonio shrugged. “I was hoping you would have an idea” he laughed a bit. “I don’t really know my way around yet. So I’m not sure what’s good” 

 

Arthur looks over at him. “Well it depends if you want to go out to dinner or see a movie or something else. We have an aquarium in town that I haven't been to yet. We could do dinner then the aquarium?” He offers and looks at Antonio with a small smile. 

 

Antonio smiled. “That sounds great! I love aquariums so I would love to see one with you. Especially if it is new, then you won’t be bored from having seen it all already” he chuckled a bit and nodded.

 

Arthur shrugs. Aquariums bore him anyway, but he doesn’t mind going to one with Antonio. Especially since Antonio looks so happy about it. Arthur smiles a bit and pulls his blanket around it, snuggling into it. “Why do they give us so much homework?” He whines softly, though it’s not really at Antonio. 

 

Antonio sighed. He smiled and pulled his backpack closer to go through the rest of his homework. “I don’t know. Maybe to induce stress and simulate the real world. Or some bullshit like that” he huffed a bit. He hated homework a lot. 

 

“Well they certainly know how to induce stress, because that’s what I feel.” He huffs and sits up, going through everything. He only finishes what is due the next day and sets away the rest of it. “By the way, am I too loud in the mornings? I know it can suck to go to class without enough sleep.”

 

Antonio nodded “I do too” he finished a bit of work and looked at Arthur again. “Nah it doesn't bother me at all” he assured, smiling and tilting his head a bit again. 

 

Arthur nods and blushes lightly. “Good… Not that I'd be able to fucking change anything if you were bothered.” He flops over and huffs, blushing darkly. He wonders why he cares so much. 

 

Antonio laughed a bit. “Well then it’s a good thing I don't care” he smiled and laid down on his bed. 

 

Arthur frowns at himself. He doesn't know why he lets himself fall for people so easily, but Antonio doesn't seem like the kind of person to start a relationship to hurt the other person, so he feels like he can trust him. 

 

Antonio smiled and started to play with a bit of string. He pressed his feet into the bed and hummed a bit. 

 

Arthur closes his eyes and goes back to sleep until hunger wakes him up. He slowly gets out of bed and looks at Antonio. “Could I convince you to make me dinner again?” He asks, accent heavier due to sleep. 

 

Antonio looked over at him and nodded. “Sure! I can make dinner for us both again.” he stood up and pulled out a few things to cook dinner for them. 

 

Arthur nods tiredly and stands up. He comes up behind him and puts his arms around his waist, watching over his shoulder. “I don’t understand. I don’t understand how all these ingredients can make such great food. I don’t understand how you don’t burn it.” 

 

Antonio chuckled a bit, smirking at him. “Well at a lower temperature and less time it has less of a chance to burn” he smiled. “And I’m not really sure why things taste good together” he laughed a bit. 

 

Arthur huffs softly and watches Antonio’s hands. “I really wish I could do something like that.” He says and sighs. He kisses the side of Antonio’s neck then lets go of him, grabbing a soda and popping it open. He takes a deep drink of it then pulls out a pack of cigarettes. “Do you care if I smoke in here?” He asks, raising an eyebrow .

 

Antonio chuckled. “Ah I am sure you can, you just have to do it a bit more carefully” he smiled and shrugged. “Nah I don’t mind” he assured, continuing to cook and swaying his hips a bit while he did. 

 

Arthur’s eyes lock onto Antonio’s ass as he lights his cigarette. He takes a deep drag and sets the lighter down before blowing the smoke out. He watches Antonio cooking, eyes trailing down his back. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to cook.” He assures Antonio. 

 

Antonio shrugged. “Not with that attitude.” he chuckled. He finished up with the food and grabbed a few plates. “Foods ready if you are” he chuckled and smiled, looking at Arthur. 

 

Arthur raises an eyebrow. “I’ll let you think that.” He stands up, putting out the cigarette in a little glass dish before grabbing a plate with some food. “Fuck this is good.” Arthur mumbles softly. He looks at Antonio and then down again, glad his roommate cooks. 

 

Antonio chuckled and shrugged. He sat down and started to eat. “I’m glad you like it, I’ll just have to cook a lot more often” he smirked. “Especially if we get a house together” he teased a bit. He wouldn’t mind it if they did end up together. But he was mostly joking in that moment. 

 

Arthur nods and smirks. He leans back against the wall. “Maybe we should.” He responds, teasing as well. He sets the plate to the side and leans his head back. “I don’t want to go to class tomorrow.” He whines quietly and stands up. “I’m gonna get ready for work.” He says, going and doing the dishes then getting dressed in work clothes. He pulls on a naturally coloured wig, hiding the green locks and puts skin coloured piercings in. “I’ll see you later.” He walks out, heading to the restaurant where he is a waiter. 

 

Antonio blushed and chuckled a bit. He smiled and tilted his head. “Alright have a good time at work” he waved and leaned back on the bed. He wondered if he should get a job? He shrugged and pulled out his homework to work on it again. 

 

When Arthur returns he’s exhausted. He collapses into bed without even removing his shoes and goes to sleep. He barely wakes with his alarm the next morning, groaning softly. By the end of the week Arthur looks like death incarnate. He has dark bags under his eyes as juggling work with his extensive essays has kept him up well into the night. He was glad to sleep in on Saturday, though he made sure to get himself up to go on the date with Antonio.


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur gets himself ready around noon then smiles at Antonio. “You want to head out around 5? We can go to this great little diner then head to aquarium?” He offers, lighting a cigarette and taking a deep drag. 

 

Antonio nodded and smiled. “That sounds great! I’m very excited” he said happily. He flicked his feet back and hummed. “But maybe you should lay down for a little bit though? You look really tired” He said with a shrug. 

 

Arthur shrugs and flops back onto the bed. “Alright. Do you want to do anything before we go to dinner? I’ll drive you wherever.” He finishes his cigarette and puts it out on the ashtray. “I just stayed up a little too late writing a few essays for my classes. It’s not that big of a deal. I’m fine.” He assures Antonio and gives a smirk. 

 

Antonio huffed playfully. “Fine” he teased. “I do need to get some clothes from my dad's house. If you don't mind” he tilted his head. “I don't really have any of my nicer clothes with me” he shrugged and looked at Arthur, flopping his legs back down onto the bed.

 

Arthur nods. “When do you want to go? Do you want to be able to come back and relax for a little while after, so we go now? Or straight from there to the diner?” He asks and watches Antonio. “I don’t mind what you wear, by the way, you look nice in everything I’ve seen you in.” He gives him a small smirk. 

 

Antonio shrugged a bit. “Yeah we should probably go now. So we can come home. We’ll need time to relax I guarantee it. 5 of my siblings still live there and my father does too, obviously. With that many people around we will need a break” He sighed “Plus I will need to get ready” 

 

Arthur nods and sits up, stretches his arms over his head. He snags a coat and slides it on. “Let’s go then.” He says and reaches out a hand to help Antonio up again. He gives a small smile. “I’ll make sure your father doesn’t hurt you.” He assures Antonio, pulling him into a soft hug. 

 

Antonio nodded. He put on his coat as well and took his hand gently. He tilted his head a bit when he was pulled into a hug. “ah...Thank you” He blushed and looked at Arthur. “I just hope we don’t even see him honestly” he sighed. 

 

Arthur nods and looks up at him. He bites his lip softly. “But if we do, I’ll make sure you’re okay.” He responds and lets go, thinking Antonio was uncomfortable because of the hug, and grabs the helmets. He hands one to Antonio and walks out to the motorcycle. He slides the helmet onto his head and clips it, putting his phone in the compartment again. 

 

Antonio nodded and smiled shakily. He thanked him and followed him out, putting on the helmet and putting his keys and phone in it as well. He climbed onto the back and held onto Arthur tightly, nuzzling into his back and shifting to be comfortable while they were going. He made sure to tell Arthur where to go as well. 

 

Arthur blushes when he nuzzles his back and listens carefully to the instructions he’s given. He drives up and parks, letting Antonio get off. “This is it? It doesn’t look lived in.” He looks at the dead grass in the yard and the overgrown garden. There’s no signs that children even live there at all. Arthur stands up and sets his helmet on the seat of the bike. He sets his hand on Antonio’s back, hoping to comfort him. 

 

Antonio nodded. “Yup. Henrique and I did most of the chores. But we both moved out” he shrugged. He climbed off and grabbed his things. He opened the front door and stepped aside to let Arthur in before going in as well. He closed the door. He pulled Arthur upstairs and into the room he shared with Henrique. He was glad to see nothing had been moved. “Just give me a second to get my things together.” He shrugged. 

 

Arthur follows him quickly, looking around a bit. He stands by the door and just watches Antonio, playing with his lip piercings. Antonio’s father hears then head up to the room and heads inside, glaring at Antonio. “And what the fuck do you think you’re doing here? I thought I told you you have to give me a notice before you arrive. Why can’t you follow simple instructions?” He growls, grabbing Antonio by the shirt and forcing him to look at him. “You’re so fucking pathetic…” He shoves him to the ground. 

 

Arthur growls softly and gets between them. “Excuse me. Don’t you fucking dare touch him again.” Arthur snaps. Antonio’s father pushes him out of the way, lifting Antonio up again and tossing him onto the bed.

 

Antonio flinched and his head turned. “I-I just had to pick up my clothes” he whispered before stumbling back and pushing himself up to a seated position. He looked away from his father and started to tremble a bit. He gasped as he was lifted up and winced as his back hit the bed. He backed up on it and looked up at his father, tears starting to build up in his eyes. “I-I just need m-my cl-clothes. Th-then w-we’re leaving” he whimpered. 

 

Arthur stumbles back and almost falls, but catches himself on the edge of the bed. He gets between them again and shoves Antonio’s father back, not wanting to start a fist fight but wanting to protect Antonio. “Toni, get your stuff.” He says, turning to look at him. “It’s okay.” He gives a small smile to him. He feels hands on his shoulders and turns back to him just in time to get punched in the cheek. This time he does fall, but he gets back up quickly, swallowing the blood in his mouth. 

 

“Heh… Is that the worst you can do?” He growls and clenches his fist, punching him in the nose. Arthur shakes out his hand a bit, it had been a while since his last fight, but can’t help the pride swelling in him when Antonio’s father stumbles back and falls on his ass. Arthur sits on the bed and watches him, making sure he stays away from Antonio. When they’re ready to leave he turns to his father. “If you ever hurt my boyfriend again I will do worse back to you.” He growls before walking out with Antonio, hand on his back in what he hopes in reassurance. His cheek and hand are sore, but he got Antonio out relatively safe, and that’s what matters to him. 

 

Antonio’s eyes went wide. He was practically frozen until Arthur sat down. He stumbled to his feet and grabbed some of his clothes. He trembled and looked at Arthur when he was done. He looked at Arthur when they got outside, tears starting to fall off of his cheeks. “You. You hit him back” he whispered shakily. “No one has ever hit him back” he blushed suddenly. “You said I was your boyfriend” he smiled slightly. 

 

Arthur looks at him and nods. “Well… I never let anyone hit me and get away with it. Plus it’s better me than you.” He responds and blushes lightly, nodding. “I think you are my boyfriend.” He responds and gives him a small smirk. “Of course, if that’s okay with you.” He gently pulls Antonio down into a kiss, keeping it chaste. He pulls away. “Let’s head back to the dorm so you can relax. That was probably really stressful, I’m really sorry.” He hopes that his cheek doesn’t bruise, he doesn’t want to have to explain it to his own parents. They would freak out and call the police, which he doesn’t want. 

 

Arthur doesn’t think Antonio wants that either. He pulls on his helmet and gets on the bike, waiting for Antonio to get on. He was trying to keep it civil at least with Antonio’s father, but the man was an asshole, and Arthur doesn’t tolerate when people hit him or his friends. He grits his teeth slightly at the thought of Antonio having to suffer that for so long. He sighs softly and tells himself that it’s over, Antonio will never have to face that again. 

 

Antonio nodded and kissed back gently. “I like it.” he whispered. He nodded a bit. “I would like to, yeah. That's why I wanted to go early.” he shrugged. He put his things in the compartment. He got on with Arthur and held onto him again, nuzzling into him and smiling softly. 

 

Arthur drives them back to the dorm. He helps Antonio bring his things into the room the kicks off his boots and sets his helmet back in it’s place. He watches Antonio carefully then pulls him into another soft kiss. He cups Antonio’s cheeks softly and pulls away, looking up into his eyes. “Are you okay?” 

 

Antonio took of the helmet he borrowed and set it aside. He turned to him and blushed softly, kissing back softly and nodding. He pressed his forehead on Arthur’s “thank you...I...I’m okay I think...I just have never had that happen before. My whole family is scared of him and he's done it our whole lives.”

 

Arthur continues to cup his cheeks softly and leans his head on Antonio’s. He nods a bit and gives him a reassuring smile. “I don’t understand, but I’m sure it would be really hard to live with that. I’m so sorry.” He pulls away from him slowly. “I’ll protect you if you have to go back again. I promise.” He gives Antonio a smile. 

 

Antonio nodded and sighed a bit. He kissed Arthur’s cheek gently and smiled. “Thank you. I know we haven't known each other long. But it means a lot to me that you did that and I already feel this. I love you” he whispered. 

 

Arthur blushes darkly and looks away. “I dunno. I feel strongly for you even though it hasn’t been that long, but I don’t think it’s love yet.” He doesn’t want to lie to Antonio or lead him on, but he does feel strongly for him. He looks up at him and shoves his hands into his pockets. He tries to think of some clever poetry to recite but at that moment it all fled. He’d never known love before, and he’d never thought he could have it. 

 

Antonio nodded and smiled softly. “That’s fine. I understand. I fall in love too easily I have learned that the hard way” he chuckled a bit. “But I think that it will blossom into something because no one has ever stood up for me before when they met my dad. I must mean something to you if you would rather yourself get hit than me. And either way. Even if you never really love me. I want to at least be your friend forever. Because you’re amazing” 

 

“You mean a lot to me. Already.” Arthur blushes darkly and looks up at him. “You should relax for a while before our date. I’ll play for you.” Arthur blushes dark red as he pulls his own acoustic and starts to play some of the songs he knows. He leans against the wall and smiles softly as he plays, watching Antonio. 

 

Antonio nodded and smiled. He laid down and watched Arthur, listening to him play. He liked the way that Arthur played. Though he didn’t know he played acoustic too, and it was rather nice to hear it. He swung his legs back and forth with a smile.

 

Arthur sings along softly, leaning his head back. He switches songs and smiles at Antonio, singing a gentle love ballad. Arthur likes to play slow, love ballads on the guitar, and he keeps playing them. He looks at the time then stands up, setting his guitar gently in the closet again. “Let’s head out.” He smiles at him, pulling a leather jacket. “Don’t bring your wallet. I’ll pay.” He had gotten his paycheck and hasn’t used it at all yet. 

 

Antonio nodded and got into a more appropriate outfit before pausing. “Oh. Are you sure? I can pay.” he whispered, moving towards Arthur and smiling. “That’s a lot to pay for.” he added. He didn’t want Arthur to have to pay for the aquarium and dinner. 

 

Arthur smiles at Antonio, chuckling softly. “Yes. I’m sure. Don’t worry about it. My parents are well off. I work because I want to.” He grabs Antonio,s hand gently in his. “I want to pay for you. It's okay.” Arthur grabs his helmet and grabs his wallet, making sure he has the money before putting his wallet in his pocket. 

 

Antonio smiled and shrugged. He nodded and took Arthur’s hand in return. “Thank you” he said happily before following him back out. He looked around and then at Arthur, smile still prominent. 

 

“Toni, you still need your helmet.” Arthur reminds him with a small chuckle. He shakes his head and hands over his own helmet. “Doesn’t matter. Let’s just go.” He puts his stuff in the little spot and then gets on, waiting for Antonio to get on behind him. He’s never crashed so he doesn’t mind riding without a helmet. 

 

Antonio paused and chuckled a bit. He shook his head. “No I’ll put my foot down there. I’ll let you pay but you need your helmet” he stated, smiling. “I’ll just grab mine real quick” He said softly before grabbing his keys and grabbed his helmet. He locked the door again and came back down, putting his phone and keys in the pocket before climbing on, putting the helmet on. “There.”

 

Arthur blushes and puts on his own helmet. “Fine, fine.” He says and waits. He smiles at Antonio, starting the bike and driving to the nearby diner. He stops and waits for Antonio to get off, grabbing his wallet. “You can hang the helmet off the handle.” Arthur pulls his helmet off and sets it on the handle, looking up at Antonio. He’s sure his cheek is bruising at this point, but he still hopes it’s not. 

 

Antonio chuckled and smiled. He held onto him while they were driving then climbed off. He smiled and nodded, putting the helmet on the handle and taking Arthur’s hand gently. “This seems very nice. I have never been” He shrugged. 

 

Arthur smiles at him and holds his hand softly. “It’s okay. I’ve been a few times.” the waiter seats them quickly and Arthur looks at the menu. “Order whatever you want.” He decides to get tea, since beer would be a terrible idea since he’s driving. He hums softly, not sure what he wants for dinner. He glances up at Antonio and decides on something from the breakfast section of the menu. The waiter comes over and asks for their orders. 

 

Antonio nodded and smiled. He looked over the menu and hummed in thought. He got a water to drink, not wanting to drink anything alcoholic and not sure what else he could drink. He liked water most out of his options. He looked over the dinner options, humming and telling the waiter what he wanted when he was asked. 

 

Arthur also tells the waiter what he wants. He gives the menu back then grasps Antonio’s hand from across the table. He wants to ask for ice, because he can feel his cheek swelling now. It throbs and he has to push away a wince. He doesn’t want Antonio to feel bad. 

 

Antonio smiled as he took his hand. He looked over his face. “Are you sure you’re okay? It looks less than okay” he sighed. “I'm sorry” 

 

Arthur looks him in the eyes. “It hurts.” He responds, knowing he can’t lie. “Of course it hurts, he hit me hard, but it’s not your fault, Antonio.” He offers a small, comforting smile. “If I didn’t want this to happen, I wouldn’t have insisted on coming with you. Honestly I pretty much assumed I’d be walking away hurt, because I knew he’d try to hurt you, but I also knew I would never allow him to land the blow on you. Please don’t be sorry.” Arthur squeezes Antonio’s hand softly, leaning across the table to kiss him. 

 

Antonio looked down and opened his mouth to return but was greeted with the kiss instead. He kissed back gently and pulled away. “But I’d rather get hit by him like I used to than have him hit you. I have gotten used to it. You shouldn't have had to get hurt for me.” he whispered. It didn't matter if Arthur said it was fine. He felt so guilty. It was his father that hurt Arthur. 

 

Arthur looks away, guilt flooding him as well. He should’ve just lied, he supposes. The pain he saw in Antonio’s eyes was just heart wrenching. “No. Don’t say that.” Arthur says. “I don’t care. Toni, I get in fights all the time, I’m used to getting hit. That’s how I knocked that asshole flat on his ass. Don’t worry, I bruise easily, it’ll go away soon enough.” Arthur looks up as the waiter sets their drinks down then walks away. 

 

Antonio thanked the waiter and sighed shakily. “Are you sure?” he asked. “I just don’t want you to be in pain because of my family” he whispered. He really did like Arthur and he felt bad that the Brit was hurt. 

 

Arthur nods. “I’m positive.” And then Arthur leans in a bit, and starts to recite poetry quietly, not really to Antonio, but just in general. Poems about love and romance, excerpts from plays. Just pieces he loves dearly. He doesn’t really notice when he does it, it’s more of a distraction technique for when he feels he needs to calm down, and he doesn’t want to ask for ice, so he distracts himself. Arthur looks back up at Antonio and blushes darkly. 

 

Antonio listened to him and smiled softly. He tilted his head. “That’s really pretty. Did you write that?” he asked, not knowing them since they were in English and he never really listened to poetry in other languages otherwise he may have recognized them. He didn’t really care what Arthur did or what he liked. He just liked Arthur. 

 

Arthur shakes his head. “I didn’t. They’re from various poets. Some the greats like Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost and Shakespeare, but others less well known. I love poetry. It’s such a beautiful and powerful thing. That’s why I became an English major, because I love it so much, but that’s also why I love music. It’s so powerful and poetic.” Arthur smiles softly. 

 

Antonio tilted his head. “Ah that’s your major” he chuckled a bit. “Why did you seem like you were avoiding telling me? Is there something wrong with being an english major?” he asked. “I think it’s really cool that you went after what you enjoy”

 

Arthur shrugs, bright red blush coming back. “I dunno. I guess it was weird that a person like me would want to major in English.” Arthur responds. “And I had no idea you were as nice as you are.” Arthur defends himself, but the smile comes back. He hums and thanks the waiter when the food is set in front of them. 

 

Antonio chuckled and nodded. “I suppose that is true. I didn’t know you very well either. I never really had to hide it though. My dad may be an asshole but he has always supported my music career. Maybe a little too much” he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, thanking the waiter and beginning to eat. 

 

Arthur begins to eat. He sighs softly and looks at Antonio, glad he met him. “We’re still doing the aquarium, right?” He asks when they are finishing up their meals. He pays the bill and stands up, offering his hand to Antonio. 

 

Antonio nodded and smiled. “Yeah I’d like that a lot” he said happily. He finished his food and took Arthur’s hand, thanking him and smiling. He followed him out of the restaurant. 

 

Arthur smirks at him and pulls him into a soft kiss before sliding his helmet on. He hands Antonio his before humming gently. “I’ve heard the aquarium is pretty nice. Lots of tropical fish.” Arthur looks up at the sky “I want to go somewhere warm one of these times.” 

 

Antonio kissed back with a deep blush and put his helmet on. He nodded and held onto him. “We should visit Spain. It’s warm there” he said softly, nuzzling into Arthur’s back again. It was comforting and he liked this excuse to hold onto him. 

 

Arthur blushes lightly. “Mmm.” He hums softly and nods. He’d love to go to Spain, since it is so warm. He drives to the area he knows the aquarium is and pauses, looking up at the sign then turning into the correct parking lot. Arthur parks and gets off after Antonio does, pulling off his helmet and setting his helmet on the bike again. 

 

Antonio got off and did the same with his helmet. He grabbed Arthur’s hand gently and stayed close to him while he walked. “It looks great from out here I can’t wait to see the fish” he said happily, humming as he walked. He loved the colours of the fish. 

 

Arthur takes his hand and threads their fingers together. He lets go to pay to get inside but holds Antonio’s hand again as soon as he can, humming gently as he leads him inside. Arthur lets Antonio choose where they go, not caring that much. 

 

Antonio waited patiently while he paid then smiled as he took his hand again. He pointed around and talked excitedly while he looked at all the animals. There were so pretty. It excited him quite a bit. He had no shame in showing it either. 

 

Arthur nods while he talks and smiles slightly, finding it adorable. He gives his opinion only on the ones he particularly likes. At the end he takes Antonio into the gift shop and asks him if he wants anything. 

 

Antonio nodded any time he gave his opinion. He followed him to the giftshop and smiled. He picked up a few of the stuffed animals and messed with them. “Ah I don’t want to make you pay anything more. Just being here with you is a lot of fun” he said happily

 

Arthur hums softly and shrugs. “If you want something, that’s fine. I don’t mind.” Arthur watches him and smiles softly at how cute he is acting, wondering if he should buy something as a souvenir just anyway. He looks over a few stuffed animals and gently touches them, but then decides he doesn’t want anything and joins Antonio once more. 

 

Antonio nodded. “As long as you are sure” he hummed and went through the stuffed animals, wanting to have one of them since he loved stuffed animals and was sure he wouldn’t be getting most of his old ones back. He held up the stingray and the otter. “Which one do you like better?” he asked, tilting his head and smiling. 

 

Arthur looks between them and smiles at him. “I think the otter is much cuter.” He responds, chuckling softly. He pulls out his wallet and waits for Antonio, not wanting to rush him. “You’re so cute.” He hums and leans up to kiss him softly. 

 

Antonio smiled and nodded. He put the stingray back and held the otter in his arms. He blushed and giggled. “I think you’re cuter than I am” he responded, grabbing Arthur's hand and moving towards the cashier. 

 

Arthur blushes darkly and shakes his head. “I’m not cute.” He insists. “Sexy, handsome, wonderful maybe.” He teases and pays for the otter. He holds Antonio’s hand when his hands are free, kissing his knuckles. He leads him out to his bike again. “Do you want to go anywhere else, or just back to the dorm?” He asks with a small smirk. 

 

Antonio chuckled and nodded. “Most definitely sexy, handsome and wonderful, but cute” he teased in return. “Hmm back to the dorm probably. I’m sure we can have a wonderful time there too” he hummed and put his helmet on. 

 

Arthur smirks a bit wider and looks up at Antonio. He pauses to think about whether he has condoms and lube, or if Antonio even means that. He slides his helmet on and clicks it. “Make sure you hold on tight, don’t let the otter toy get you hurt.” Arthur advises, looking at Antonio. He gets on the bike and waits. 

 

Antonio nodded. He held onto Arthur tightly, carefully with the toy. He smiled at Arthur. “I trust you” He said softly before going silent while he focused on holding onto Arthur. That was what he meant but he was mostly joking. He loved the idea. But he wanted Arthur to be sure of it first.

 

Arthur parks, pulling Antonio inside once off the bike. He tosses aside his helmet and turns to Antonio, pulling him close. He smashes his lips to Antonio’s gripping his shirt softly. He hesitates before sliding his tongue along Antonio’s lower lip. 

 

\-- 

 

Now Arthur certainly never thought he’d give up his punk phase and become an english professor in a college, nor did he think he’d ever get married, but here he is, stepping into the house he shares with the love of his life. 

 

Arthur smiles when he sees Antonio cooking, carefully wrapping his arms around Antonio’s waist. “Hello love. What’s for dinner?”


End file.
